Ranger On The Run
by Spoony Spoonerson
Summary: No powers. No team mates. Tommy sure has his work cut out in order to prevent global domination.
1. Turbo, UnIgnited

Ranger On The Run

Turbo, Un-Ignited

Today had been a standard call out for the Turbo Rangers; Divatox had sent down a monster and a detonator bomb. The rangers had managed to get rid of the monster before they resorted to calling out the megazord. It was down to the detonator.

"How do we defuse this one? There's no buttons?" Tanya yelled as the rangers clustered around the bomb. Tommy pushed past the others, and picked the detonator up. The bomb had previously been attached to a police vehicle, and had been chased down by the rangers in their cars; luckily the cop noticed and stopped the vehicle. The policeman was out of the area now. Tommy was running up a fire escape as the clock ticked down on the clear LED screen handily built into all detonators. Tommy climbed onto the roof of a building, they were near the waterfront. Tommy swung it and threw it as hard as he could towards the water. The bomb went off in mid air, showering a few pieces of plastic down onto the sea. Tommy climbed down the fire escape to receive the praise he deserved. Everyone had their weapons drawn, Tommy's sword was handed to him.

"Good job man." Justin thanked him. As that happened, another group of Pihranatrons jumped out. Tanya was blocking their attacks and landing her own on them. Kat was standing back firing at them. Adam was with her, shooting his cannon. Justin was crouched at the bonnet of a car, shooting. Tommy was away from the car, cutting them down with his sword. The enemies were gone quickly.

Another explosion followed this fight. A second detonator had been planted on the car. When the rangers tracked the car for a suspected detonator, they did not think to trace the car again once the first detonator had been removed.

Adam was the first to get up, the whole of the street had been damaged. Tanya was the next up. Then Tanya helped Kat up as Tommy gut up. No Justin, the car was upturned, and on fire, a small gloved hand stretched out underneath. Everyone's suit was charred and scratched.

"Justin!" Kat yelled, pointing to the hand. Tommy held her back. The car was on fire, so there could be no effort to remove it, even as rangers their uniforms weren't completely fireproof. The hand was lifeless, Justin was gone. Hopefully by the time the fire was put out Justin would be demorphed, and would have had a normal funeral. Large bangs could be heard from down town. Everyone looked up, it was a large robot was marching down the main road. It was now nearly night time. The robot was black, and vaguely resembled a human other than the elongated head.

"Look, Justin's blasters are still here. Maybe the R.A.M. can take care of him." Tanya pointed to Justin's Turbo Hand Blasters beside the upturned car that crushed him. Adam leant over and picked them up. The rangers ran down over to where the robot was wreaking havoc. The R.A.M. was assembled. The four members of the team aimed the weapon straight at the monster, and fired.

A bolt of energy hit the robot straight in the chest, and caused a small explosion. The monster was knocked back slightly, only to be enraged by the assassination attempt. The robot looked down, and saw the rangers. Tommy led the team to run away from the giant robot. Tommy ran around the corner, followed by Tanya, then Adam. Kat was not far behind. Tommy turned around to see her run as the bangs became faster and louder. Kat was crushed in an instant by the feet of the robot, who ran straight at her.

"NOO! Kat!" Tommy yelled, he was held back by Adam. Adam took them round the corner into an alley.

"Tommy! We have to call the megazord." Adam tried to put sense into the leader.

"No! We're going back, to get what's left of her body!" Tommy pointed back the way they came.

"Tommy, we have to destroy this monster, do you want both her and Justin to have died for nothing?" Adam shook his head.

"I agree." Tanya nodded. The megazord arrived, five different cars formed into one machine, the control room seemed different with only three rangers inside; it seemed bigger. They had to keep going, if only to destroy the robot. The Turbo Megazord charged onto the scene. The megazord slashed the robot across the chest with it's sword. The robot also bore a weapon, a blaster pistol. Of course this blaster pistol was the size of a minivan. The robot blocked a swing from the sword, and then kicked the megazord back. This enemy was different, it was not restricted for movement like so many monsters and other enemies that had grown to gigantic proportions over the years. The robot back flipped away to a safe distance, and then let loose with it's blaster. The Turbo megazord managed to summon the shield, but it had taken quite a few hits beforehand.

"Tanya; the megazord has taken quite a pounding. Our power levels can't take much more." Tommy yelled.

"We can't give up now!" Adam yelled.

"Guys, our power's failing, we'll be sitting ducks." Tommy sighed.

"We have to try." Tanya explained.

"Then continue without me. Two friends have died before my eyes today, I can't stay around to watch you two go as well." Tommy shook his head, he left the megazord. Seconds after he did so, the megazord burst into flames.


	2. Whatever happened to the heroes?

Ranger On The Run

Whatever Happened To The Heroes?

Tommy returned to the power chamber, he was demorphed.

"Hello Tommy, it is good to see that you are well." A familiar voice rang out.

"Zordon? You're back?" Tommy asked.

"For now. Dimitria sent a message to me depicting that your team was in trouble, I got here immediately. Dimitria and Alpha six are now far away. I've seen what's become of the other Turbo rangers." Zordon sighed.

"I know, it's all my fault." Tommy sighed.

"Tommy, you must not blame yourself for the deaths of any of your team mates. The death of Justin was an accident; it was the first time Divatox had planted more than once detonator in one place. It was because of the attack after you'd taken care of the first detonator that Justin died. As for Katherine that too was not your fault; although she was the slowest runner it would have been unethical for you to go back and try to save her, you all could have been killed." Zordon explained.

"Yeah well I should have done. Tanya and Adam died anyway, I may as well have died with her the way Adam and Tanya died together. If I'd have been braver I would have stayed with them as well." Tommy kicked a console.

"Tommy; there is a line between heroic and suicidal. When Adam and Tanya decided to stay in a fallen machine to fight a superior monster, they knew on some level they were going to their deaths. What you have failed to acknowledge is that in any case; your death would not have solved anything." Zordon boomed.

"I know, but; it's just so unfair. No rangers had died in the field of duty before. All of them retired and went on to lead happy and full lives." Tommy cleared his throat.

"The more pressing matter remains; Earth is now vulnerable. With no one to protect it it's likely that Divatox will launch a full assault." Zordon shook his head.

"What? I'm still here. I can fight." Tommy rose as if he'd just been insulted.

"Tommy; against a large batch of Pihranatrons you would be captured in an instant; your death will solve nothing. I have held a conference between all those possible candidates for Earth's protection. Trey of Triforia's powers need to rest to repair, Auric the Conqueror's key has been lost. Ninjor has entered a deep sleep that shall render him meditated for the next thousand years and the Ninja Turtles have disbanded. The blue centurion and the phantom ranger are also unavailable. All of these point to the enslavement of Earth. I will be leaving in a short matter of time, and I would advise you to do the same; this place and all of Angel Grove will be the first targets when Divatox strikes. All we can hope for is Rita and Zedd to try and intervene, that way perhaps those two will destroy each other, but that is a gamble of long odds. It is sad to say goodbye to you, but I must return to Eltar, where I will continue to look for a way to save Earth. Goodbye Tommy Oliver, and may the power protect you." Zordon boomed, after he finished his final sentence, his face disappeared from the tube.

"NO!" Tommy yelled. Today he had lost everything. He tapped his communicator as to get out of the power chamber, nothing. He betted his powers did not work either. Tommy pushed open the doors to the power chamber and walked out. He did not bother to close them, he predicted the place would be nothing more than a pile of rubble soon. He continued his long walk.

The moment Tommy returned home, he got out of his clothes, they were dirty and stunk of sweat; deodorant companies are yet to create a deodorant that works well enough to keep rangers smelling good. Tommy chose his new clothes carefully; most of his wardrobe was either green, white or red. Any of those colours reminded him of the times he wore them, wearing the colour of his ranger. He shoved on his black vest top (still in it's packaging), some grey jeans and his brown Harrington jacket. He sat down in his armchair after pulling a beer from the fridge. He'd refused drink ever since he became a ranger. Surprisingly so, as beer relaxes you. Tommy always maintained the philosophy of keeping your body in good shape, this included bad foods. He did all that he could not to think about anything that had occurred that day, tonight was about himself, and getting over the grief of losing the woman he loved. He had to keep it cool; he didn't know for sure Divatox wanted to take over the Earth, and how long it would take with the military against her. All four of his lost friends would have funerals, all would have relatives in need of comfort. He had been contemplating on his way back; and felt especially sorry for Justin. That boy had never had sex, driven a car or gone to work. He never even wanted to be a power ranger originally, he overheard Rocky talking to Zordon and was thrown in at the deep end. Then there was Adam; a replacement for Zack as the black Mighty Morphin ranger. Adam had served as second in command in both Zeo and Turbo teams. Adam was the last of the trio he arrived in Angel Grove with. Rocky damaged his back whilst training furiously for a karate match. Aisha stayed in Africa to help out there, and sent Tanya back in her place. Tanya; another person thrown in at the deep end. When she arrived the command centre was imploded. From then on she served as the yellow Zeo ranger because Billy gave up his power to her. Last was Katherine. Sweet Katherine. Katherine replaced Kimberly, Tommy's previous love interest as the pink Mighty Morphin ranger. Tommy was always interested in Kat from the moment she arrived; Tommy like blondes, but always tried to remain faithful to Kimberly. Then when Kimberly wrote to him telling him she had found someone else, Tommy decided to do the same. Of all the people to lose; Tommy lost one girl to gymnastics, the other to a giant foot.

Weeks had passed, Tommy met relatives, funeral directors and other people all in the first week. Tommy also had been through a thorough investigation by the police, as the five of them were friends, and he was the only survivor. Rocky was also questioned. The rest of the time was spent without leaving the house. Tommy had his hair cut down to a sensible length, his attire was now pretty much all dark items; black, grey, dark blue. Nearly every depressing colour he hadn't worn as a ranger. Since he had graduated he had much more spare time, but most of it was spent at home. One day he was kicking back, watching the baseball game, when a loud bang came from downstairs. Tommy was wearing his black vest again, with his grey jeans. Tommy rose to his feet. He could smell fish in the air, something was in.


	3. The World As We Know It

Ranger On The Run

The World As We Know It

Tommy crept down the stairs, looking for any signs of movement. Nothing, but the smell was definitely getting worse. Tommy turned a corner, to see a Pihranatron up really close. Said Pihranatron was in front of many others, as soon as it saw him he immediately swung for Tommy. Tommy ducked and kicked him into the sofa. They were in the living room. Tommy started to fight all of them at once. They knew where he lived, there was no point in saving anything now. Tommy threw one of them straight into his TV, smashing it. Tommy blocked another punch and threw the opponent arm first into another one. Quickly they were all gone. Tommy looked out of the window. There were many Pihranatrons, but that was not all; monsters were running wild, buildings laid to ruin. He could hear more Pihranatrons in the background, he had to leave. Zordon was right in thinking that the first place to be taken was Angel Grove partly because it was always the residence of the power rangers, partly because the police presence had slackened since the arrival of the rangers. Divatox had been successful. Tommy grabbed his brown jacket and started to power walk towards the back door of his house, where the car was parked. Tommy's jeep was one of the few things he had left that he loved. He managed to run to his jeep and get in, from then on it was a straight drive across America, to find a safer location.

Tommy had left Angel Grove, he was wondering where he should go, where security would be highest. The president arrogantly thought it was all about him and went into hiding, but Washington would still be fairly protected. Tommy decided to go to Washington, and hope to set up a new life there, perhaps join the rebellion against Divatox.

It was a fairly long drive from California to Washington, but it was worth it. When he arrived there, there was no Divatox, it was normal life as such. Tommy picked up a newspaper from a stand. Divatox was on the front page. She had taken California as fast as Tommy could leave and was now residing on Earth. California was now a giant Fortress of hers, a base from which she could operate and take on other states and areas. Tommy gave thoughts to other countries across the globe, would they be under attacks led by monsters, or were all enemies now in California? If word had spread that Divatox had taken California then there were bound to be rebellions forming. Most of them started by crackpots with no experience in battle. The best retaliation Tommy could think of would be a military one; thousands of armed soldiers turning up at the gates in military jeeps. That would be the best solution. Or perhaps just a simple Atom bomb. Either way Tommy had to find out what plans Washington was making to free California. But he had no power here; well he never really had lots of power in Angle Grove as such, but he was known. He couldn't prove that he was a power ranger, for all everyone else knew, he could have been just a man interested in national security, he could have been a spy. But he didn't have to lead the rebellion, he was safe in Washington. Washington would not fall if it knew to expect attacks, Tommy could lead a normal life, it was trying to save the world that caused his team mates to die around him. Thinking of that, Tommy began to wonder what happened to that robot. There were no pictures in the paper, very few to be precise. One of the wall that surrounds California, one of Divatox's flag bearing the phrase 'Viva La Diva!' and one of Divatox, who sent a photograph of herself to every major newspaper, depicting herself as the first and last ruler of the world. Tommy was also angry about the lack of heroes waiting in the wings to save Earth. Fair enough that Ninjor was in a deep sleep since before the attack. But Auric's key, lost? Who'd been so careless as to lose it? It was probably Jason, Jason being the previous holder. The Ninja turtles disbanding was probably out of fear. Still no word about why the Blue Centurion was not available. Tommy had to find some sort of resting place; not in a funeral sort of way, as in a motel room, except he could not afford to live in motels for ages. He needed a place. He put the paper down, he didn't want to buy it; that was frowned upon in most places, reading a paper on the street only to not buy it. Tommy decided to look in the ads of local shops, perhaps there was a housemate wanted or similar being, Tommy could get a job to start paying rent. Tommy slept rough that night, in a cheap motel, on a questionable mattress. The next day was exploring the area. This was until he came across a familiar face.

He saw him when he was walking down the street, he'd actually taken the trouble to buy a paper this time to rifle through the help wanted section. He took the time to sit down on a bench provided, he put the paper on his lap and started to read.

"Tommy?" a voice called out, Tommy raised his head and saw that familiar face.

"Ernie?" Tommy stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh you haven't heard? I got out of my missionary work just in time as Divatox took over Angel Grove, my brother's in Taiwan and I asked him if I could stay in his house. Yeah I got back, as soon as I did I had to leave." Ernie sighed.

"Yeah? Cool, I got out as well." Tommy nodded.

"So, where are you staying tonight?" Ernie sat down.

"Ah, motel probably." Tommy sighed.

"Tommy, you can't do that! I think it'll be a long time before California's safe again, you're gonna stay with me." Ernie stood up.  
"What? No, I can't do that." Tommy shook his head.

"It's a two bedroom house, I feel I owe it to you; it's you and your friends that kept me going." Ernie insisted. Tommy stood up.  
"Ah, if you're sure." Tommy hugged the large man. It was slightly ironic that a large man ran a juice bar that encouraged healthy eating and exercise. "I'll need to get my car."

"Ok, I'll be at this address, I know you don't know this place too well, but it should be easy to find." Ernie handed Tommy over a piece of paper, this note was given to Ernie the first time he visited his brother, it was now Tommy's. It contained brief notes on how to get there, something Tommy could find slightly useful. Tommy separated from Ernie, and went off to the motel to pick up his car. It was a long walk back to the motel, and Tommy reflected more as he walked, he seemed to spent a lot of time reflecting on past times.

Tommy's black 4X4 cruised down the road, he was following the instructions given to him by Ernie. After a good hour of cruising, he turned up at the house. It was a terraced house in a large street, there was a gravel parking area behind the houses, the area fitted nicely as Ernie's brother's house was exactly in front of it. Tommy parked up and got out, he decided to go in through the back entrance. Tommy walked down the patio path and in through the conservatory.

"Hello? Hello?" Tommy called out as he entered the conservatory, the door was opened by Ernie.

"Hi Tommy, take your shoes off and come in." Ernie smiled. Tommy took off his trainers and entered.

"Can I offer you juice?" Ernie asked. Tommy was now in a living room of sorts, large TV and leather armchairs.

"No thanks, you got any beer?" Tommy sat down. Ernie was across the hall, presumably in the kitchen.

"Beer? Tommy what happened to that keeping your body healthy and all that stuff? You know alcohol will kill you?" Ernie came through. "No we don't."

"Never mind then." Tommy sighed, Ernie sat down.

"So, what started you drinking anyway?" Ernie asked, he had a tall glass of smoothie in his hand. Tommy thought for a while about the question.

"Can you keep a secret? I was a power ranger; the red power ranger, the leader. We were on a routine call out when it all went wrong. The blue ranger; Justin was blown up by a car explosion. We were then spotted by a large robot. That robot crushed our pink ranger; Katherine underfoot. I went with the yellow and green ranger to fight it in the megazord. We were running low on power, I decided to abandon the megazord, hoping they'd follow. Adam and Tanya were rangers until the end, and died in the megazord fighting the robot. I'm the only survivor of the team. Now Divatox has taken my home and all the places there that I loved. That's what turned me to drink." Tommy blithered on, telling the story of his downfall.  
"Oh, tough break. But that's no excuse for drinking! I'm supposing you'll want to take Angel Grove back from Divatox. You can't do that in poor health." Ernie tried to put a positive spin on things.

"That's my point; the others were in perfect health, and they were cut down in my prime, I can't win against Divatox any way you spin it, so my sobriety makes no difference."


End file.
